Touch the Fire
by blackcatwhitewolf
Summary: Kia is an orphan with two talents-climbing and setting things on fire. Raised by the Stabbington brothers in the hopes that she can make their job easier, Kia is quite good at what she does.  Reviews would be helpful!
1. Chapter 1

Touch the Fire

The Stabbington brothers looked around. They had lost the Palace guards, but they also were now lost in the forest that surrounded the castle. The two walked faster, trying to recognize their surroundings, but stopped suddenly when a wail echoed through the forest. They turned when they heard a whimper from in the roots of a tree. They walked closer, and froze. A small blanket lay underneath a large root, covering something.

"What is that, Cole?" The man with the eye patch asked. Slowly reached out and pulled it away, revealing a small, somewhat scrawny baby with ashy skin and shaggy brown hair in a fraying long dark green shirt. She looked up at them with large yellow eyes that reflected the forest around them, all the while sucking on an orb that hung around her neck.

"Why would someone leave the kid here?" Cole wondered.

"Who knows? Probably the parents didn't want a kid that looks like that. Come on, Bruce, let's just go before the guards catch up to us." They turned to leave when the baby screeched and grabbed Bruce's boot, pulling out the knife he kept there.

"Hey! Give that back!" he shouted, reaching for it, but the baby ran her small hand over the blade, and to their shock, the metal melted away, leaving only the hilt. The baby frowned and dropped it, and then crawled toward them, looking for more toys. She picked up a pebble and it turned to dust. She squealed and grabbed a fistful of grass, smiling as it caught fire.

"What the…" Cole reached down toward the baby, and she grabbed his thumb. He grunted as his thumb began to smoke, and he wrenched it away, looking at it. "She nearly burned my finger right off!" He said. Bruce snickered.

"Maybe we can use her. If she can burn right through stuff, then our job just became that much easier." Bruce suggested.

"Maybe." Cole reached down to pick her up, when a small cat leaped out from the tree and slashed at his face. He jerked back as it landed on the baby, puffed up and spitting. The girl pushed the cat off of her and picked it up, hugging it close. He sighed and picked the girl up again, ignoring the cat's growls. They walked deeper into the forest, the cat whirring all the way.

They stopped walking when they found their old camp. Bruce went to get firewood and Cole set the cat and the baby down. The cat hissed and curled up protectively on the baby as soon as she curled up herself. Cole straightened up and looked over at the direction they came from. The sun was almost gone from the sky and the forest was getting dark fast.

Bruce dumped the wood beside where the old ashes of the fire lay.

"The stuff's all wet from the storms." He muttered.

"Well, we've got our little match, don't we?" Cole said. They turned to where the baby was, but she had disappeared.

"What the-" Bruce began, but he was silenced by a small nut hitting his head. They looked up and saw where the baby had gone. She had gotten into one of the trees, and oak laden with acorns, and was busy trying to climb higher. She grabbed at another branch but it broke, and her bare feet slipped, sending her falling. She reacted almost instantly: instead of screaming or flailing, she grabbed at a branch and hung on, even as it caught fire from her hands.

Cole reached up and took her from the tree and touched her hand to the firewood. It ignited almost instantly, sending sparks up into the leaves and burning like it had been going for hours. The baby giggled, her large eyes reflecting the flames. Cole set her down and watched her try to climb another tree, but the bark was too slick for her small hands.

"What are we going to do with the tree rat?" he asked.

"Probably name it, for starters." Bruce replied.

"How about 'Kia'? That dog of ours was named Kia."

"I hated that dog."

"You hate everything, Bruce."


	2. Chapter 2

"Taya, come on!" Kia called as she scampered up a tree. The tabby followed as quickly as she could, but even as a cat built for speed, she couldn't keep up with Kia, who seemed to be born for climbing.

Kia jumped across onto a thick oak branch and began her upward climb. Taya scrambled up behind her, breathing hard. Kia began shimmying up the trunk and finally looked out at the world around her. The tree she had climbed was taller than those around it, and she could see the castle from where she was.

"That's where we're going, Taya." Kia told the cat as she climbed up the final branch.

"Hey Kia, where are you?" Cole shouted. She looked down to where the two men who had been raising her for the past five years stood. She clambered down the branches and landed in front of them.

"Hi!" she said.

"We're gonna be gone a few days." He said shortly. He seemed a bit tense, so Kia knew better than to ask more questions.

She walked back through the forest to the abandoned house they used as shelter. She grabbed some charcoal and began drawing on the back wall. She drew Taya sleeping in the sun beside her and herself in the oak. She drew the outline of her necklace, and then looked in it to see what it reflected that day. Inside was the castle with the flying lanterns high in the sky.

"Yeah! Day after tomorrow's when the lanterns will appear!" she said to Taya. The cat opened one eye and looked at her disdainfully, and then went back to sleep.

"Aw, don't act like that. I know you like the lights just as much as me." she told her cat. Taya ignored her. Kia blew her a raspberry and kept drawing what she saw in her necklace.

Two days passed and the Stabbington brothers hadn't come back. Kia did what she normally did; never stopping to think about how the food was beginning to run low.

She had watched the lanterns fly, admiring the amount and how much light they put off. She was able to run through the forest like she did in the day because of their light.

The captain of the guards walked over to the brother's cell.

"Well? Why did you call me?"

"There's a girl in the forest, an orphan. We were raising her. You need to go find her." Cole said. The captain was surprised, he expected them to beg for release or blame the thing on someone else.

"Fine. We'll find her. What's her name?"

"Kia."

Kia hung upside down in a pine, watching a swallow in her nest. The bird fluttered around but did not spook, because she was used to Kia's large yellow eyes watching her and her chicks. Taya hissed and looked down at the forest floor as the bird suddenly started and flew off. Kia rose back up and looked where Taya was spitting. Three horses were below them, and she could now hear people nearby.

"Kia?" she heard someone call. She looked back at Taya, who was all puffed up and snarling. "Kia!" she heard the same voice call. She slowly came down out of the tree and saw three Palace guards, though to her they were only men in gold armor.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"There you are." One said, the same one who had called her name.

"What do you want? Are you lost? The palace is that way." She said, pointing behind her.

"We know, and no, we're not lost, we were sent to find you."

"Why?"

"Because the men who were raising you told us where you were."

"Why?"

"Because they aren't going to be able to take care of you any more."

"What happened?"

"Nothing happened, they just are no longer able to raise you." The man said.

"Where would I go?"

"To the palace." He told her. Kia looked over at Taya as she half climbed, half fell out of the tree.

"Do I have a choice?" she asked.

"No."

"Okay. Lemme get something." She said, and went over to where her home was. She grabbed the charcoal and her boots, along with the last of the bread. She wrapped it in a cloth and dropped it in a bag along with some rope. She walked back out after pulling on her cloak and put Taya in the bag as well, then stood in front of the man. He lifted her onto his horse, a white one, and then climbed on himself.

The three horses made a lot of noise as they ran through the forest, and Kia was feeling a little dizzy. She had never gone this fast before. Taya poked her head out of the bag and after seeing the forest flash by, she stuck her head back in again. Kia held onto it tightly, not letting the wind have any chance to take away her friend.

When the horses crossed the bridge and began to slow down as they got into the town, Kia almost fell off. She shivered a little as the horse walked over to a building on the edge of the water. The man got off and then lifted her off as well, and led her over to the door. A woman opened it after he knocked and stepped out. Two other kids looked out from around her legs.

"Yes?" she asked cautiously.

"We need to give this girl to you." The man said, stepping to the side and letting the woman see Kia.

"We already have so many-"

"Please. We don't have anywhere else." The woman sighed.

"All right." The man got on the white horse and the three left. Kia watched them go and then looked up into the woman's smoky eyes with her own amber ones.

"Come in, we'll get you settled."

"I'm Zari." The woman said as she led Kia into the building. It was dark, the only light coming from dirty windows and a small fire. A large dog looked up from where it lay with some small children snuggled against its side.

"That's Leo. He's a good caretaker, great with the children." Zari said, leading Kia up the stairs. The landing had two doors across from each other, both closed. She opened the door on the left and led her into a small room with a jumble of beds, cots and sleeping pads scattered around the room. The woman led her over to a corner by another dirty window.

"You can sleep here." Zari said. Kia nodded and put her bag down to claim it.

Kia went outside to look around. She saw a tree and ran over to it and climbed up it to the top, sheltered in its leaves.

"Kia! Get down from there!" Kia saw Zari standing underneath the tree.

"But I won't fall out. I'm good at climbing." Kia told her.

"Get down, you can't do that here." Kia climbed down and stood in front of the woman. "Go inside, the others living here will be back soon."


	3. Chapter 3

Kia watched as Zari went into the building she had been living in for a year. She looked down into her orb and saw flowers. She looked over to where a daffodil was and picked it, and then ran inside to give to Zari. The woman smiled as Kia handed her the flower, but it disappeared as the flower caught on fire.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Kia." She said.

"Don't be, please. It won't die now." Kia told her. Zari smiled and put it in a vase absent of water, then turned to where the fire Kia had touched was still burning.

"I have something for you." She said, pulling out a box. "Your tendency to set fires is growing, so I got something for it." She handed Kia the box and the girl eagerly opened it, pulling out a pair of thick leather gloves. She smiled up at Zari as she pulled them on and then touched the table. It didn't catch on fire and Kia squealed.

"Thank you!" she said, hugging Zari.

Cole watched as the guard went by. They were finally going to put their plan into action, now that they had seen where Kia was. Bruce stood up and took a swing at Cole, slamming his face into the wall. They began shouting and grappling as the guard turned back to stop them.

"Hey! Hey, break it up!" he shouted, and Bruce punched him. He grabbed the keys and unlocked the door. The two ran out through the hallways, intent on getting the girl back.

Zari shook her head as someone kept pounding on the door. She went over and opened it, thinking it was someone trying to give her a kid, but instead it was a tall man.

"Yes?" she asked.

"I'd like to claim a kid." He said.

"Well, I need to see some proof." She replied.

Kia came down the stairs, positive that she heard Cole. She saw the man in the doorway and her face lit up. She ran over to him and hugged his leg.

"I knew you'd come back!" she said joyfully. Cole looked at the woman.

"I guess that's proof enough." She said. Kia ran off to get Taya. She ran back with the tabby in her arms.


	4. Chapter 4

Seven years later and Kia had grown up. She could climb anything, even steep cliff walls. The only problem was her long limbs. Though they were good for grabbing things, it made climbing and fighting difficult.

Kia got two rocks from an old eagle nest and climbed back down to the forest floor. She sat down and looked at them. The larger of the two rocks was dark blue and one end had a sharp, pointed tip. The other end had the makings of a hole, and she chipped away at it with the other rock.

An hour later she held it up to where the sun was coming through the leaves. She could see through the hole, and so she found her stash of rope and threaded one end through the hole. She stood up and swung it back and forth gently, satisfied with how heavy it was. It would take a lot of strength to sling it, but it would be able to dig into rock or bark well. She swung it harder and sent it sailing into a tree. The rock dug deep into the bark, spraying wood chips everywhere. She smiled and pulled the rope. The rock wouldn't budge. She walked over and hauled the rock out and dropped it on the ground.

She pushed her wavy oak-brown hair out of her eyes and looked over at where Taya appeared from behind the tree. The tabby walked over to her, giving the rock a wide berth.

Kia picked up her rock and swung it up into the tree. She heard a thunk and yanked on the rope. The rope went taut and she began to climb. When she got up to the top she yanked the rock out and put it back in the eagle's nest.

She looked up at where the castle spires were just visible. She shook off the memory of living in the town away from the forest and climbed back down.

Kia and Taya crouched on a branch above the forest road. The Stabbington brothers were hidden in the bushes on the ground, and a large tree was blocking the road, courtesy of Kia's fire. They heard horses coming and got ready. The guards in front came pretty quickly, and were quick to stop the carriage. They dismounted and began clearing the tree.

Kia jumped silently onto the top of the carriage, grimacing slightly at the slight thump her boots made. She had wanted to do this barefoot, but Cole said no, that she might need to run, and boots would protect her feet.

She swung down fast, opening the door. There was a small pouch that she grabbed and she held the opening in her mouth as she climbed back onto the top and jumped onto a branch. She looked down and saw a small green chameleon. It glared at her.

"Give me the pouch." Kia turned and saw a man who looked like the one the brothers told her about- Flynn Rider, the man who ran out on them and married the princess.

Cole looked up and saw Rider in front of Kia. He saw her grip the pouch and say something to him. He knocked a guard down and threw the man's sword at Rider. He turned and saw it coming and ducked. The blade dug deep into the trunk. He watched Kia turn and run, her long limbs propelling her up and out of sight.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Sorry for the wait, and most likely the quality, I just wanted to get something new up. I'll try harder soon, I've got a few different 'story' stories, and others in planning phase. I think I was going for a 'snapshot' kind of narrative, I'm not sure, I just typed.**

Taya hid underneath a bush, waiting to strike. She heard a rustling next to her and turned. A small green chameleon sat beside her, its eyes bored. Taya sniffed it and it flinched, then backed away. Taya turned back to where Kia had disappeared. She looked at the chameleon, or where it was, as it had disappeared. She shook something off her and saw the lizard hanging off her tail. Taya crouched, then jumped, scampering up the tree.

Kia leaped from tree to tree, the bag gripped tightly in her teeth, her long limbs and body twisting through the trees like a strange, twisted ape. She landed on a thick branch and looked back to where Rider was struggling to keep up. She turned away and kept running.

Cole and Bruce charged through the forest on what they hoped was Kia and Rider's trail. The soldiers were following them, and every so often a crossbow bolt would hit a tree or bounce off a rock or impale the earth. The canopy was keeping almost all light out, so only scattered patches of earth had sunlight hit them, while the rest was shrouded in a dark green light. The place was silent, save for the mens' heavy breathing and their feet crashing over sticks, pebbles and dead leaves.

Taya bounced like a squirrel through the branches, sending leaves and nuts falling to the forest floor a ways below. The weird chameleon was hanging onto her neck and almost fell off as she leapt a large gap. Taya could smell Kia, but the scent was aging fast, she had passed through a while ago.

Kia jumped from an oak out into the open towards a rock. She misjudged the distance, and instead of landing on it she hit the side and fell to the bottom. She lay there a moment, her limbs not wanting to move. She heard Rider land on the ground and walk toward her. Her senses flared to life and the jumped up, the bag still in her mouth.

Her eyes flashed as she tensed her legs, ready to run or jump. Rider didn't seem to have a weapon, but maybe he was concealing a knife. She wasn't about to let him get close enough to find out, and she turned and jumped onto the rock. She scrambled for handholds, her feet and hands sliding into the cracks and dips on the side. She pulled herself onto the top and looked around.

For her to get into another tree she would have to jump, an option that had already proven unreliable. She could climb down and run, but Rider could see where she went, and he could move to stop her before she landed. She wasn't good at combat, even with Cole and Bruce trying to teach her.

She then remembered the rope and rock on her waist. She took it off and looked for a strong trunk for it to dig into. There was a hickory in front of her, and surrounding it were ash and maple. She began swinging it, hoping for it to hit the hickory. She heard shouts behind her and she swung faster. Bootsteps were sounding on the ground and she began spinning it. crossbows were being loaded and she threw the rock.


End file.
